Russ Conway

Russell G. Conway (March 27, 1949 – August 20, 2019) was an American journalist, writer, and auto racing promoter. He worked in investigative journalism with The Eagle-Tribune, and wrote a series of articles and a book about Alan Eagleson and the mismanagement of funds, and National Hockey League players' pensions. He was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1992, and honored with the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award in 1999. He owned and operated several motorsport venues, and was inducted into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame.

Early life Conway was born on March 27, 1949, in Haverhill, Massachusetts. His father was a deputy fire chief, his mother was an educator, and he grew up in Haverhill. Conway was exposed to ice hockey and auto racing as a child, attending speedway races and a 1958 Stanley Cup Finals game with his father. He began delivering newspapers in 1959, and wrote racing column for the Haverhill Journal beginning in 1964. The first story he wrote exposed the poor conditions of the football team's locker room at Lawrence High School. Throughout his career, he has extensively covered the Boston Bruins. He was promoted to sports editor position of The Eagle-Tribune in 1981.

In September 1991, he published a series of articles over a five-day period entitled Cracking the Ice: Intrigue and Conflict in the World of Big-time Hockey. The series focused on Alan Eagleson and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), and made Conway a finalist for the 1992 Pulitzer Prize in beat reporting, for reporting on questionable business practices in the National Hockey League (NHL). He later collaborated with Bruce Dowbiggin on a second set of articles published in February 1993, after Dowbiggin had done his own investigations based on Conway's previous work. Conway's book on the subject, Game misconduct: Alan Eagleson and the Corruption of Hockey, was published in 1995.

Conway retired from The Eagle-Tribune in 2006.

Car enthusiast Conway owned 18 Chevrolet Corvettes in his lifetime. He was inducted into the New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame in 2006. He received the Keith McCreary Seventh Man Award from the NHL Alumni Association in 2013 for his contributions to pensions and benefits for retired NHL players.

Personal life Conway was engaged five times but never married. He was an avid golfer, and organized the "Allen B. Rogers Memorial Golf Tournament" between 1975 and 2005 to raise money for "The Eagle-Tribune Santa Fund". He had residences in Haverhill, Massachusetts, Groveland, Massachusetts, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, and Pompano Beach, Florida, at various times. He died from heart disease at his home in Haverhill, Massachusetts on August 20, 2019, at age 70.